The Texans are legitimate players in this one. Today might be decision day.

And relax with the panic, fans. Players can’t sign until Friday evening, and they can’t suit up at practice until next Thursday. Let it play out, see what happens, then react. There are plenty good players out there. The Texans aren’t going to miss out on upgrading their secondary by going after the very best.

If your credit isn’t good enough to buy that Ferarri, you can’t go down the street and pick up a Mustang on the way home. And anything would be better than that beat-up Pinto you drove around last season.

Don’t be like the jokers who all offseason said the Texans have no chance of landing a top cornerback. Or the ones who then decided that the Texans couldn’t fit Asomugha under the salary cap. (Note, the Jets have more money spent on the cap than the Texans, and they might even have a slight lead in the chase for Asomugha.)

If the Texans didn’t make a good faith attempt to sign Asomugha, they would be doing a disservice to their fans. If you accept that (and based on ticket sales since the franchise began, apparently many of you do), then fine.

You know I’m as honest about these things as anyone in town. If they didn’t have a legit shot at landing Asomugha, or if he had let it be known that he was not at all interested or only using the Texans to drive up the price, or if going after Asomugha meant the Texans would lose out on getting a quality cornerback, I’d point that out. None of those is the case.

The interesting thing about the pursuit of Nnamdi (and if you follow me on Twitter, you’d know my best take on it is borrowed from Buford T. Justice at the 1:45 mark) is that it should drive up the price tag for Johnathan Joseph. That is why you’ve heard little about the Bengals’ free agent cornerback. He is waiting to see what Asomugha gets to set the market.

It is arguable that the top four free agent cornerbacks are still available, and that doesn’t include Nate Clements, who has been told that he will be released by the 49ers. It would be shocking if the Texans don’t get one of the top three corners. They should get one of the top two, but I’m not going to put that heat on them, or slam them for not getting it done, until they actually don’t get it done.

As for Clements, I’m not a huge fan.

If you have ever heard his teammates make fun of his “Lockdown” nickname, you’d know why. That said, he would be an upgrade on what the Texans had before, but in a way, so would Chris Bosh. With the NBA lockout, can’t believe Rick Smith hasn’t sent a caravan of Texans fans to Bosh’s house to see if the 6-9 forward wanted to moonlight as a 6-9 shutdown corner.